The Fighting Lady main backdrop
The Fighting Lady main poster

The Fighting Lady

Visit website

6.2/10 • 12

1944-12-211h 1m

WarDocumentary

Photographed in Zones of Combat by Men of U.S. Navy

Oscar winner William Wyler directed this 1944 "newsdrama," narrated by Lieut. Robert Taylor, USNR (Bataan), and photographed in zones of combat by the U.S. Navy. The film follows one of the many new aircraft carriers built since Pearl Harbor, known as THE FIGHTING LADY in honor of all American carriers, as it goes into action against the Japanese in the Pacific Ocean in 1943. See the ship and its pilots undergo their baptism of fire, attacking the Japanese base on Marcus Island. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation.

Directors
Edward Steichen, William Wyler
Writters
John S. Martin, Eugene Ling

Top Billed Cast

View Credits
  1. Charles Boyer

    Charles Boyer

    Narrator (French version)

  2. Robert Taylor

    Robert Taylor

    Narrator

  3. John S. McCain

    John S. McCain

    Himself

  4. Joesph J. Clark

    Joesph J. Clark

    Himself (as Jocko)

  5. Dixie Kiefer

    Dixie Kiefer

    Himself (as Dixie)

Reviews1

View Reviews
CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Jun 30, 2022

6/10

This is quite a fascinating look at life aboard a US Navy aircraft carrier fighting the Japanese during WWII. Narrated by Robert Taylor, it takes us to the hidden innards of this wooden-decked floating fortress complete with thousands of men, thousands of tonnes of materiel, food, weapons and equipment and it explains how meticulously the ship is run and her operations carried out. Plenty of real action photography as the planes take off and land - not always in the same state - demonstrates just how perilous life aboard these ships could be. It is an unashamedly jingoistic film - made to extol the magnificence of the efforts being made by their service personnel to an audience back home, and at that is effective. Narration is an art in itself, though, and I tired of Taylor's rather mono-tonal storytelling after a while - he needed to speak less and let us watch and listen more. It's creatively intercut with action photography than combined with the flimsiness of the planes, the surging of the seas and, of course, the wartime battle scenes go some way to reminding us just how dangerous their daily lives were. Maybe a bit on the dry side, but given when it was made that's hardly surprising.

Media

  • The Fighting Lady poster

Recommendations

  • Naruto 20th Anniversary - Road of Naruto main backdrop

    Naruto 20th Anniversary - Road of Naruto

    7.6

  • Rate Me main backdrop

    Rate Me

    5.1

  • Doctor Who: The Next Doctor main backdrop

    Doctor Who: The Next Doctor

    7.4

  • No Backdrop

    King of Prism All Stars: Prism Show Best Ten

    6.0

  • Tudo por um Pop Star 2 main backdrop

    Tudo por um Pop Star 2

    7.4

  • Secret of Naruto main backdrop

    Secret of Naruto

    6.9

  • Naruto to Boruto: The Live 2019 main backdrop

    Naruto to Boruto: The Live 2019

    7.5

  • Doctor Who: Voyage of the Damned main backdrop

    Doctor Who: Voyage of the Damned

    7.6

  • Doctor Who: Deep Breath main backdrop

    Doctor Who: Deep Breath

    7.8

  • 23 main backdrop

    23

    6.0

  • Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars main backdrop

    Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars

    7.9

  • Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead main backdrop

    Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead

    7.5

  • Rate the Cookie main backdrop

    Rate the Cookie

    5.8

  • Doctor Who: The Snowmen main backdrop

    Doctor Who: The Snowmen

    7.7

  • Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Bonds main backdrop

    Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Bonds

    7.3

  • Doctor Who: Dark Water / Death in Heaven main backdrop

    Doctor Who: Dark Water / Death in Heaven

    8.0

  • The Cave of the Golden Rose 4 main backdrop

    The Cave of the Golden Rose 4

    6.3

  • Naruto Shippuden: Sunny Side Battle main backdrop

    Naruto Shippuden: Sunny Side Battle

    7.6

  • Pattas main backdrop

    Pattas

    6.1

Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
No keywords have been added.